


Keep Close, Stand Tall

by mariuspunmercy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Canon Compliant, Death Eaters, Dumbledore's Army, M/M, this is the most self indulgent thing ive ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26355562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspunmercy/pseuds/mariuspunmercy
Summary: Harry Potter has grown up in the war that’s plagued the galaxy. Since he was eleven, he’s dreamed of returning to a life of tranquility.The fight is everything he never wanted, but pilot Draco Malfoy may give him the inspiration he needs to start putting his trust in hope again.___A Rogue One AU
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Keep Close, Stand Tall

**Author's Note:**

> Canon compliant = Rogue One compliant

“Keep close, single file!” The Death Eater shouted. He jabbed his stick into Harry’s back, making him stumble. “Stand tall, don’t want to make a bad first impression.” 

Harry sighed as he and the rest of the prisoners were led into the back of a transport truck. His future cellmates had no interest in listening to the orders, but he was more than willing to comply. It just made everything easier before they were shoved behind bars and never cared for again. 

The truck started moving. He sat down, his cuffs digging into his wrists. The other prisoners around him looked helpless, and he knew he should probably share the same sentiment. 

Stuff happens. You get captured and taken prisoner. Nothing new. Not since his mother died and he never saw his dad again.

The truck stopped, everyone lurching forward. Harry planted his feet so as to not fall forward like the others. The Death Eaters took a quick glance at the prisoners before realizing something was wrong. 

“Another pick up?” One suggested. 

“I thought we had everyone,” the other retaliated. 

The doors on the back of the truck suddenly swung open. Harry jumped as a band of people filed in, using blasters to shoot the Death Eaters point blank in the face and chest. They had the build of soldiers. Weapons of one, too. 

“All clear!” 

Someone pointed at him, much to his confusement. “Him,” they said, and another grabbed his arm. 

The man had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes that glared at the Death Eaters. He latched onto Harry’s arm with a straight face, saying, “Do you want to get out of here?” 

Obviously, he nodded. He had no idea who these strangers were, but they wore the symbol of Dumbledore’s Army. The man cut off his cuffs, and he sighed in content. Harry flexed his wrists to bring life back into them. When the man went to grab at him again, he bolted from his seat and leaped out the back of the transport. 

Again,  _ he had no idea who these people were,  _ so he wasn’t going to trust them. When his feet hit solid ground and he wasn’t forced to stand in a single file line, he started running. 

He didn’t get far. Something grabbed at his neck and chokeslammed him into the ground. He sputtered, looking up to come face to face with a droid from the Death Eaters. 

“Hello,” it said. “I am Dobby. You are being rescued. Please do not resist.” 

Harry groaned when his neck was free and the other soldiers came out the transport. The man who freed him from his restraints pointed to a ship in the near distance. “Get on the ship. We’re getting out of here.” 

He was never one for orders, and  _ he didn’t know these people,  _ but the droid held a blaster to his back. He had no choice as he followed the soldiers and walked up the gangplank of the ship, wondering if maybe imprisonment was a tamer punishment. 

* * *

“Possession of unlicensed weapons, forged documents, aggravated assault on a Death Eater, and escaped imprisonment. Imagine what would happen if the Death Eaters found you?” 

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat. No one said a word to him in the ship as they took him from the back of a transport. They landed on some planet, Yavin 4, and he recognized it immediately as the base for Dumbledore’s Army, mainly because of the symbol painted everywhere. A rebellion created to fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. 

Something he had no interest getting involved in. 

He didn’t even know why he was here. He’d never been involved with Dumbledore’s Army (except when he was with his godfather), and he never actively fought with the Death Eaters. He couldn’t think of any reason to actually be sitting in a chair at this very moment, getting stared down by the leader. 

“Harry Potter, son of James and Lily Potter,” said the man in front of him. He stood tall over him, his grey beard and silver eyes intimidating to anyone who didn’t have a heart of steel. Lucky for Harry, he did.

He fingered the ring on his hand. His father had given it to him ages ago. It was nothing special: just a kyber crystal smelted onto a piece of metal. His parents both wore one identical to it., and he wondered if somehow this man could sense the personal connection. 

“What is this?” Harry demanded. So far, this seemed like a challenge to make him as uncomfortable as possible. 

“A chance for a fresh start,” he replied. “My name is Albus Dumbledore, and-”

“We could use your help.” Someone emerged from the shadows: the man who had released him from his restraints. 

“This is Captain Draco Malfoy,” Dumbledore introduced. “Rebel intelligence.” 

Draco walked forward next to Dumbledore, leaning down to glance at the briefing table. They were both illuminated by the light of the green and blue coming from the hologram, yet neither took their eyes off of Harry. 

“When was the last time you were in contact with your father, James Potter?” 

He had to think for a moment. He had last seen his dad when a Death Eater demanded he come back to work for Voldemort, killed his mom, and left him in the care of his godfather at eleven years old.

“Fourteen years ago,” Harry said, suddenly interested in the floor. 

“Any idea where he’s been?” Draco asked. 

He shrugged. He didn’t think he needed to explain himself to a group of strangers who were clearly not interested in him, but more so his parents. “I like to think he’s dead. It makes everything easier.” 

“Easier than learning he’s been a tool for the Death Eaters?” 

Harry narrowed his eyes. If he remembered correctly, Voldemort himself and one of his Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange, were the ones who destroyed his life. There was no reason his father would ever be working with them, much less if he were even alive. 

Of course, the concept wasn’t new to him. He’d always considered the fact that his dad may not have been killed. He was the only one to have survived the raid and Harry saw him get taken in a ship by the Death Eaters. It wouldn’t come at a complete surprise if he was actually alive, but his gut told him that his dad had, indeed, died all those years ago. 

“Okay, how about Sirius Black?” Draco asked to redirect the line of questioning. “When was the last time you saw him?” 

Harry almost scoffed. 

Sirius had taken him to a couple of rebel meetings when he was twelve. He expressed his dislike for them as soon as he could. He looked the other way whenever he could. The man was very caring to those he liked, but not everyone was lucky enough to know the good side of Sirius. He was indifferent to everyone that showed a hint of being a Death Eater. 

He had admired it up until the man told him one day to run ahead when they were infiltrating a Death Eater convoy. That he’d catch up. Needless to say, Sirius never found him, and Harry was all alone again.

“It’s been a long time,” he said simply. 

“He’d remember you, right? If you came as a friend, would he agree to meet you?” Draco got closer as Dumbledore clicked buttons on the holotable.

Sirius would. Anything that was left of James and Lily he protected with his life. 

“We’re up against the clock,” Draco cut in when he didn’t answer. “We really need to know.” 

“I was a kid when Sirius took me in, but I have no idea where he is now,” Harry summarized. “It’s been years.” 

Draco sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “We know where he is, that’s not our problem. We just need someone to get us through his door without being killed.” 

He looked at the two men confused. “You’re all part of the DA, aren’t you?” 

“Yes,” Dumbledore informed. “But Sirius Black is an extremist. He broke off from us and has been on his own for a while now. His methods have caused a great strain within the Army, but it’s about time to mend that broken trust.” 

There was still something else bugging him. “What does any of this have to do with my father?” 

Dumbledore hesitated before answering, “There’s a defector from the Death Eaters on a planet called Jedha. He’s a pilot, and he’s being held by Sirius Black. He’s saying there’s a weapon created by a scientist that will destroy planets. He says he was sent by your father.” 

Harry sat up straighter to listen to Dumbledore. “Captain Malfoy’s mission is to authenticate the pilot’s story and, if possible, we would like to retrieve your father.” 

He tried not to seem too excited. “All you need me to do is get you a meeting with Sirius Black?” Dumbledore nodded. “And if I do it?” 

“You’ll go free. We’ll make sure of it.” 

He’s always hated Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but he also wasn’t exactly loveable with DA. They claim to help the people, but where were they when his family was being killed? Or when he was eighteen and starving on the streets trying to get away from the enemy? 

But the chance to see his father… Even if he chooses to believe his dad had died, the small chance of seeing him again filled his chest with a small glimmer of hope. If this pilot checks out and was actually sent by him… 

“Malfoy! I have some special instructions regarding your assignment.” Someone called out. Draco nodded at Harry before he turned and walked with the new person. They were going towards a U-Wing, and he could see them talking in hushed voices. 

Dumbledore must’ve seen what the look on his face meant. He handed a blaster to Harry. “Welcome on board. You guys leave as soon as Captain Malfoy finishes his conversation. Like he said, we  _ are  _ on the clock. You’re taking the U-Wing.” 

Harry took the blaster in his hands. He stood from the chair and walked past Dumbledore, past Draco and his friend and into the ship. He didn’t want to fight for Dumbledore’s Army, and he wasn’t. Not really. 

He had only one goal. As soon as he found his father and made sure Sirius was okay, he was leaving. He knew he probably should, but he couldn’t find himself to care for some weapon. They’d already taken everything from him anyways. 

Harry walked up the gangplank and into the U-Wing where he found a droid in the copilot’s seat. “Hello! I am Dobby, a reprogrammed droid stolen from the Death Eaters,” the droid reintroduced. 

“I remember. You told me when you choked me out,” Harry reminded. 

“The council is sending you with us to Jedha?” Dobby asked for confirmation. 

He didn’t exactly understand either. Dumbledore and the rest of the rebels know nothing about him besides his relation to his father and Sirius. For all they know, he’s going to double cross them and give their base location to Voldemort. 

But they didn’t believe that. They needed him to do something.  _ He  _ needed to do something. He was going in, bringing his dad back, then taking off. “Apparently so,” he finally answered. 

“That’s a bad idea,” Dobby said flatly. “I think so, and Draco does too. But what do I know?” 

It seems the pilot that had grabbed her from a truck didn’t believe in him as much as Dumbledore did. He had gotten a cold vibe from Draco anyways. Nothing more than a pilot doing the bidding of a rebellion. 

Speaking of the devil, Draco walked into the ship, sporting a backpack. His brown pilot’s jacket was old and had tears. Harry wondered why he still wore it. “You meet Dobby?” 

“Charming.” Especially seeing as neither of them wanted him here. He wasn’t ecstatic either. 

“He says whatever he wants whenever. It’s a glitch from the reprogramming,” Draco explained, walking further into the ship. 

Harry slipped the blaster into his jacket pocket, seeing as he wasn’t given the luxury of a holster. Dobby whirled around quickly when he heard the metal sound. “Wait. Why does he get a blaster and I don’t?” 

Draco, having not seen it when he passed him, turned around. He had one hand steady on his pilot’s seat, the other resting casually on his own blaster. “What?” 

He nearly rolled his eyes. “I know how to use it.” 

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Draco stepped away from his chair and held out his hand in front of him. “Give it to me.” 

“We’re going to Jedha. That’s a war zone,” Harry protested. “I’m going to get shot if you don’t give me something to defend myself with.” 

“That’s not the point. Where did you get it?”

He tried not to smile. Draco was getting genuinely panicked about him having a blaster. Almost as if he didn’t want him here. “I found it.”

“That answer is too vague,” Dobby blurted out. 

As much fun as messing with Draco would’ve been, Harry knew they weren’t going to get far if they weren’t getting along. “Dumlefore gave it to me. Trust goes both ways, you know?”

Draco sighed. He walked back to his pilot’s seat and hopped it, pressing buttons and preparing for lightspeed. He didn’t say anything, but Harry got the message. 

“You’re letting him keep it?” Dobby asked, surprised. “Do you  _ want  _ to know the possibility of him using it against us?” 

“Let’s get going..” Draco muttered as he lifted the gangplank, the ship taking off within seconds. 

“It’s very high.” 

* * *

Harry was exploring the U-Wing when Draco came down to find him. 

The ship had a hatch that led to a lower level. He had been searching for some medical supplies when they inevitably needed them, although he didn’t find anything. Draco came down the ladder to tell him, “We’re in orbit.” 

Harry followed him up the ladder. Draco sat back down on his pilot’s chair to begin landing. “That’s Jedha,” Draco said solemnly as the shadow of a Star Destroyer covered the sun. “Or what’s left of it, anyways. Once we find Black, we find your father.” 

“What’s with the Destroyer?” Harry wondered out loud. He thought it silly that the Death Eaters would waste their resources on a planet that’s in the process of being under Voldemort’s rule. 

“Ask your friend, Sirius,” Draco shook his head, steering lightly to land softly. “He’s attacking cargo shipments.” 

That sounded like him. “What are they bringing in?”

“It’s what they’re taking out, actually. The Death Eaters are taking all the kyber crystals they can get. They’re stripping the temple so they can get fuel for their weapon.” 

Harry watched outside the windshield as they landed. The gangplank lowered, and Draco got out of his chair. He shouldered his pack and tossed Harry a blaster holster. 

He clipped it on his waist, taking the blaster out of his jacket pocket and putting it into the holster. They were a good distance away from the city, so they’d have to walk a fair bit. Draco handed him a backpack as well. He opened it and found it filled with bandages and gauze. They were stepping into a war zone, after all. 

“He means the weapon your father’s building,” Dobby remarked as Harry put the backpack on. 

He was about two seconds from shooting the droid. “Can we leave the target practice on board?” 

Dobby turned to Draco. “Is he talking about me?” 

Draco considered for a moment. “He  _ is  _ right. We’ll need to blend in. Stay with the ship.” 

“I’m a former Death Eater’s droid. I can blend in. The planet is basically under Voldemort’s occupation already.” 

That made it all the more a problem. “If these people don’t want to reprogram you, they’ll want to shoot a hole in your head,” Harry explained. He’d seen enough of Voldemort controlled planets to know they hate the droids. 

Dobby seemed moved by his thought process. “I’m surprised you’re concerned for my safety.” 

He tried not to laugh. “I’m not. I’m scared they’ll miss you and hit me.” 

Draco’s lip quirked up, but they both stayed silent. Dobby plopped down in the copilot’s seat, arms crossed. “That doesn’t sound so bad to me.” 

He rolled his eyes and followed Draco down the gangplank of the U-Wing. Dobby raised it from the inside, and they started their walk to Jedha City. 

Harry didn’t mind the silence. He spent most of his life enveloped in it. Even when his parents were alive, he’d been an only child. But with his father possibly coming back… All they had to do was extract him from Voldemort and he’d leave the rebels behind. 

Unfortunately, Draco didn’t seem all too content with walking in silence. “So..” The man started. “Why aren’t you with Black anymore?” 

Harry shrugged. “I’ve never liked the DA, but I’m no Death Eater. I think Sirius knew this. He told me to run and never came to find me. I’ve been alone since.” 

Draco seemed to want to continue the conversation, but Harry’s obvious dislike for the rebellion shut down any attempts before they even started. They continued the walk to the city quietly with no sound except for the sand underneath their feet. 

When they finally made it, Harry held on tightly to his backpack straps. He noticed Draco had a death grip on his jacket. He wondered about that jacket. They weaved through the narrow streets full of people. Multiple locals stepped on his feet, but he paid closer attention to the Death Eaters patrolling the streets.

One of the Death Eaters was walking straight toward him. Harry continued his path. If the Death Eater expected him to scoot over, he was going to be severely disappointed. 

When the Death Eater collided with his shoulder, the stranger turned around at him. “Hey, watch it!” 

Whenever he was given the chance, Harry always provoked authority figures; it’s what landed him in prison in the first place. He turned from Draco to shout something, but the pilot put a hand on his back and pushed him forward. “Sorry, we’re tourists,” Draco told the Death Eater. “We’re not looking for trouble.” 

Draco didn’t lift his hand from Harry’s back as they steered into the city square. There was more space around for them to walk without bumping into people.

Death Eaters walked around with holopads. One approached them, flashing an image of a man. He had brown hair and wasn’t smiling for his photo. “We have a missing cargo pilot that goes by the name Oliver Wood. A reward of six hundred credits will be given to anyone with information about him.” 

Harry looked to Draco, who was staring intensely at the picture of the boy. He turned his attention back to the holopad, studying his face. If this was the pilot his dad had sent, then they were getting closer to finding him. 

“We haven’t seen him,” Draco finally said. He grabbed Harry by the shoulder as they began walking away. “Have a good day.” When they were a good distance away, he released his shoulder and leaned down to whisper, “That’s our pilot… I had contact with one of Black’s rebels yesterday. We give him your name and hope it gets us a meeting.” 

“Hope?” Harry asked, skeptical. 

But Draco just shrugged, keeping close to his shoulder. “We stand tall. Rebellions are built on hope, after all.” 

A squadron of Death Eaters approached a group of citizens and forced them to their knees to search them. Harry looked away as Draco searched the crowd. “Is this all because of the pilot?” 

Draco wasn’t even paying attention. He patted Harry on the shoulder. “Wait for me,” he said as he walked away and disappeared into the crowd. 

Harry threw up his arms. “Well, thanks…” 

He had no problem being in crowds and blending in. He would look suspicious if he just stood there like an idiot in the middle of the square. He took small steps towards vendors, acting interested in whatever they were selling. He pulled the hood from his jacket over his head to keep a lower profile, keeping a watch in the corner of his eye for when Draco finally came back. 

“May the Force be with you!” Someone shouted. It was loud enough to be heard over the square’s commotion.    
  
Harry walked away from the vendor selling spiky bouncing balls and to where a girl sat. Her light, bushy hair stood out the most to him, but he couldn’t tell her eye color. He’d be able to see them better if her eyes weren’t cloudy. She was blind, gripping her staff tightly as she felt around the ground next to her.

The girl looked straight at Harry, which startled him. “Would you like to trade that ring for a glimpse into your future?” 

He was definitely alarmed now. “How’d you know I was wearing a ring?” 

“You’d have to pay if you want me to answer that. What do you know of kyber crystals?” 

“Not much,” Harry replied. “My father said they used to power the Jedi’s lightsabers.” 

A hand grabbed him by the arm, and Harry went to grab at his blaster. He relaxed when it was just Draco leading him away. “Come on, we have to go,” he said in a rushed voice. Harry didn’t exactly appreciate being dragged by the arm, but he noticed something was off. The way Draco’s shoulders were set, his eyes scanning every inch of a clearing before they walked down it. 

“Who was that?” Harry asked, wondering if that’s what caused the sudden mood change. 

“They protect the Kyber Temple, but obviously there’s not much to protect anymore,” Draco answered. “They just annoy everyone now.” 

He didn’t ask who  _ they  _ were. Even as they got further away from the temple and the blind girl, it didn’t seem to do much for Draco’s nerves. “You seem awfully tense all of a sudden..” Harry remarked as they turned into a busy street. 

“We have to hurry. I think this town’s about to blow.” 

He pushed Harry into a narrow alleyway with minimal people. Seconds after, a heavily guarded transport moved into the street. Draco pressed Harry into the wall to be as hidden as possible. Harry looked up to avoid eye contact when he noticed armed people waiting on the roofs. Several more were waiting in alleyways similar to theirs. 

Rebels. 

“Citizens of Jedha!” A Death Eater shouted, but they didn’t finish their speech. A thermal detonator was thrown from the rooftop and underneath the transport. It hit the tank under the truck, and it exploded as the armed rebels started exchanging fire with the Death Eaters. 

Draco stepped away and stood next to him, both of them taking out their blasters at the ready. They hid in the alley, watching as the chaos unfolded. People ran in all kinds of directions, and the firing began. 

He had  _ not  _ been prepared to be caught in the middle of an armed uprising. As the rebels continued to shoot the Death Eaters, he turned around to face Draco. “I really hope you have a back up plan.” 

“At least we found Black’s rebels…” Draco grumbled. 

He was about to suggest they leave when a loud wail rang in his ears. He saw a young girl standing underneath a tall tower in between a rebel and Death Eater blasting at each other. If either of them miscalculated, they were going to hit the child. 

The cry was so familiar. It sounded like his own the day of the raid so long ago. His ring seemed to burn at his finger. He glanced back at Draco, who seemed to be calculating their next attack. 

Harry didn’t calculate anything, and instead ran forward until he reached the girl. He shielded her body with his as the Death Eater aimed for the rebel. He heard Draco shouting at him from the alley as the Death Eater shot at the leg of the tower. 

He carried the girl as the tower collapsed, and he found her hysterical mother running up to him. She took her daughter and bid him thanks. The tower landed a couple of feet next to him, and he yelped when some of the debris flew towards him. 

“Get the kyber!” One of the rebels yelled. The rebels yanked open the truck that was nearly completely destroyed and started unloading the contents. 

Draco grabbed his wrist and pulled him back into the alley. “This way!” He shouted. They ran down the length of the alley into another clearing. 

It would’ve been the perfect getaway if it wasn’t for the Death Eaters waiting for them. Either they saw Harry at the shooting, or they were going around arresting everyone at the scene of the crime. 

They exchanged looks as the Death Eaters began to approach them with cuffs. They lifted their blasters in hope of maybe shooting their way out when the tapping of a staff startled everyone. 

The blind girl from earlier walked into the clearing, hitting her staff against the ground. “Let them pass in peace!” She shouted. 

“Stop right there!” One of the Death Eaters shouted, pointing their blasters at the woman. Draco looked prepared to make a run for it, and Harry was ready to follow behind him. 

The girl continued walking, and the Death Eaters started shooting. Harry flinched, but he was unable to take his eyes off the shooting. The blind girl paused for half a second before she sprung into action, easily hitting the Death Eaters with her staff. She was impossible to hit, dodging every shot and snaking around. 

Sudden rapid blaster fire came in from the left and shot the still conscious Death Eaters. Harry and Draco stood still as someone else walked into the clearing, smirking as he held a smoking blaster. 

“You almost shot me, Ron,” the girl joked. 

The one holding the blaster smiled at the girl, blowing out the smoke and putting his blaster back into its holster. “You’re welcome, Hermione.” 

Draco turned to Hermione with a mix of awe and wariness. “You’re a Jedi?”

Harry had been wondering that as well, but Ron simply chuckled. “You won’t find a Jedi anymore in these times. Only dreamers like this girl.” 

Hermione cracked a smile. “The Force  _ did  _ protect me.” 

“I protected you, love.” 

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Draco was getting impatient. Getting caught in the shoot out wasn’t part of the plan, and they supposedly had a schedule to follow: get everything done  _ before  _ this weapon could be completed. “Can you get us to Sirius Black?” He asked. 

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when Sirius’ rebels started approaching. The rebels, still armed, held blasters to their backs as they handcuffed him and everyone with him. 

Hermione gave Ron a funny look, but Harry could see the panic on Draco’s face. “Say your name,” Draco whispered as the cuffs dug into his skin. 

“If you hurt us, you will answer to Sirius Black,” Harry said instead. 

“Why’s that?” One of the men asked with a scoff. 

“Because James Potter is my father.” 

Another one of the rebels stood right in front of him. He was about to tell the foul git to lay off when he backed up and stared at them. Draco had his restrained hands resting as close to his blaster as possible. Hermione and Ron didn’t seem to mind all too much that they were about to be taken. 

“Take them!” 

Sacks were put over their head. He didn’t resist, only for the fact that he was on his way to Sirius, and surely, his father.

Hopefully he didn’t just lead everyone into a death trap. 

* * *

When the rebels pushed Draco and the others into a prison cell, Harry thought this was the end of the line for them. 

But then the guards made him keep walking. They led him to a room with a huge holotable in the middle. Nothing was being displayed on the hologram, but that could just be because of the person standing in front of it. 

When Sirius turned around to see him, Harry tensed up at his godfather’s smile. “Harry… It’s really you. I almost can’t believe it.” 

Somewhere inside him, deep down, was excited to see him. The man had taken him in when he needed it and treated him like a child of his own. 

But he couldn’t forget the fact that he’d been abandoned. “Must be a real surprise, huh?” 

Sirius had the audacity to look offended. “Are we not still friends?” 

“ _ I’ll catch up,  _ you told me. Is this catching up to you?” 

“I knew you would be better off without me and the DA.”

He rolled his eyes. “You still left me.”

“You’re already the best soldier I know.” 

“I shouldn’t have been in a war when I was just a child.” 

“I protected you.” 

Harry stalked forward, not caring as the rebels pointed their guns at him. He stopped right in front of Sirius, sticking a finger in his face to get his point across. “Protection is not leaving me behind with no explanation.” 

“Your father is alive! What was I supposed to do when people found out my godson and one of Voldemort’s scientists are related? You were going to die if I let you stay with me! It wasn’t easy for me to make that decision either.” 

Harry let it sink in. For Dumbledore’s Army to tell him is one thing, but to hear it from a trusted friend is another. He always considered his father dead. Believing he was alive and doing the work for Voldemort would have torn him apart. 

“Do you think the Death Eaters weren’t figuring out who you were?” Sirius continued. “They thought they killed the last of the Potters while keeping one in their ranks. But today…” He looked around, suddenly alarmed. Harry took a step back to observe the room as well. “It’s a trap, isn’t it?”

He was taken aback. “What?”

Sirius turned back to the holotable for a second before facing him again. “The pilot! Who sent him with the message? Who’s trying to kill me?” 

“What? No!” As if he’d ever betray Sirius for the rebels. “The DA wants my dad. They think you have a message from him about some weapon. They think by sending me, you’ll help them out.”

“So what do  _ you  _ want?” 

He shrugged. “They got an introduction. I’m out. All they needed was a meeting with you and they’ve got it. The lot of you can figure out what to do next.”

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t care about the cause?” 

“What cause?” As far as he knew, Dumbledore’s Army fought for the big people. “The rebels? They liberate the planets but don’t even bother to check in on the people living in it.”

“But those planets… That’s one less planet with the Dark Mark. Can you really stand to see Voldemort’s rule?”

The last time he saw someone try and stand up to one of Voldemort, it killed his mother and captured his father. “It’s not a problem if you ignore it.”

Sirius sighed. He pressed something on his holotable and beckoned him over. “Come here. I have something to show you.”

He didn’t move. Sirius waved his men away, and Harry finally approached. Sirius’ hand hovered over a button. “This is the message I was sent.”

The holoprojector lit up, and a hologram of James appeared.

Harry’s mouth flew open. He hadn’t been preparing himself to  _ actually  _ see his father. The person in front of him did not look like his dad. No, this person had unruly greying hair with a grey cap on top. He had the grey uniform only a scientist of Voldemort would wear. His father was  _ right here,  _ alive. He thought his eyes were tricking him. But when the man cleared his throat, Harry had to grab the edge of the table to steady himself.

“Sirius, if you’re watching this, there may still be a way to save the DA,” his father said. “I might be able to explain myself one day, but I don’t have hope for me. Sirius, if Harry is still with you, make sure he sees this. I know he’s either dead or hidden so well that Voldemort will never find him, but please.... Let him know… Harry, I miss you  _ so much.  _ My life has been wasted in pain. I long for you, for your mother. I think of you two only when I’m strongest. Our family. The loss is overwhelming, but I risk failing now. I’ve faced some bitter truths when taken. If I refused to work, they would’ve killed me and built it without me. Listen… We call it the Death Star. The day is coming soon when it’s unleashed. It is a planet killer and will destroy  _ everything _ . It’s only a matter of time before Bellatrix and the others are going to use it, so I’ve done what I can while I was designing and building it. There’s a weakness in the system. It’s very small, but  _ very  _ powerful. Sirius, the reactor module is the key. I’ve left my trap in there. They’ll never be able to find it, and it’s unstable. Any blast and it’ll blow up the entire station.” 

Harry jolted, and he thought it was in his head. The ring on his finger was heavier, an extra weight. He nearly collapsed when he jolted again. His hand was white against the table. It was the only thing keeping him standing. 

“You’re going to need the structural plans of the Death Star to find the reactor. There’s a data archive that will have everything you need at the Citadel Tower on Scarif. Any type of explosion, some kind of pressure, and it’ll be a chain reaction that blows the rest of the station.”

It seemed like his father had more to say, but he didn’t get the chance. The hologram cut off as the ground underneath him shook. Harry’s knees buckled as the only proof of his living father disappeared before his eyes. He covered his mouth as he avoided Sirius’ gaze, breathing carefully as to not let tears fall from his eyes. 

Sirius grabbed at his arm as the room continued to shake. Harry was only vaguely aware of Draco running into the room and helping him stand. “Harry! We’ve gotta go. I know where your father is.” 

Harry turned to Sirius for confirmation, who nodded. “Go with him.” 

He shook his head. If he could recover one old friend, what’s another? “Come with us, Sirius.”

“I can’t run anymore.” 

Draco tugged at his arm. “Come on…” 

He planted his feet before he could be dragged from the room. “Tell me you’ll save yourself.” 

Draco yanked him again, and he started moving towards the doorway. “Come on, Harry!” 

“Go!” Sirius instructed. “There’s no time. Help Dumbledore’s Army. Save your father, and you’ll be saving me as well.” 

Harry could see a shockwave in the window. He let Draco pull him, and together they ran through the base. He didn’t question how Draco somehow already knew all the ways out and focused his attention on successfully getting his legs to move. His backpack fell off his shoulders, but he didn’t look back at it.

“Dobby is already waiting for us with the ship outside! We’ve got the pilot on board, and we’re taking Ron and Hermione with us,” Draco shouted as the base collapsed around them. “They’re just waiting on us!”

The base wasn’t far from the city. He could see citizens running as the shockwave came closer. He looked up at the sky and saw something moon shaped. 

No, it wasn’t a moon. It was the space station, and it struck Jedha. The planet was going to be obliterated within seconds. As sand fell near his eyes, he looked back down to focus on running. 

Draco aggressively grabbed at his hand as the ship came down in front of them. The gangplank lowered, and he held onto Draco tightly as they ran inside. The plank lifted as they boarded, a feeling of dread filling him as the city was obstructed by the U-Wing’s interior. 

“Dobby, punch it!” Draco shouted. 

Dobby, at the controls, started doing all the preparations for the jump to hyperspace. “I haven’t completed my calculations, and I’m not positive about our odds.” 

“I’ll complete them for you.” Draco pushed past the pilot, who sat next to Hermione and Ron, to grab the hyperdrive lever and pull it sharply. 

Harry sat across from Oliver Wood, the pilot with the message. He looked out the back window and watched as they zipped away from Jedha seconds before the planet was nothing but dust and rubble. 

* * *

The group sat around the U-Wing solemnly. 

Draco came up the ladder from the lower level. He was having a secret call with the DA, but when Harry tried to follow, he’d kicked him out. He expected secrecy, but not to the point where he didn’t know what was going on with his own mission. Especially when it had something to do with his very alive father. 

Ron turned to Hermione hesitantly. “Was it the whole planet?” 

Hermione nodded, ducking her head. “All of it.” 

Draco sat next to Harry, leaning down to press his face into his hands.. “Dobby, set a course for Eadu.”

He tried not to think about whether or not Sirius was able to make it out before the explosion, but the entire planet had been wiped out. He tried not to hope too hard. “Is that where my father is?”

“I think so.” 

Oliver Wood sat up to closely look at him. He almost felt uncomfortable. “Are you really James Potter’s son?”

He resisted the urge to scoot away. The man was clad head to toe in Death Eater robes, but he knew it was unfair to judge him. “You brought the message.”

Oliver glanced at Hermione, then to Draco. He settled his eyes back on Harry. He noticed twin gashes on the side of his head. “James told me I could get right. He told me to find Sirius Black and do some good. I guess it’s too late… He was wrong.” 

“It’s not too late,” he reassured. 

“Seemed pretty late,” Ron cut in. Hermione hit him over the head with her staff.

He stood. “No, it’s not.” The weapon was big. The  _ Death Star  _ was the size of a moon, and it destroyed an entire planet with them nearly on it. “Sirius showed me the message. It’s called the Death Star. The Death Eaters have no idea there’s a way to defeat it. My father was right.”

Draco gave him a weird look. “He built it.” 

Harry whipped around to stare Draco down. “They were going to build it without him! With him there, he was able to put a trap inside it. He made the choice to put himself at risk to rig it. That’s why he sent Oliver. That’s why he sent that message.”

Draco didn’t look convinced, but he wasn’t unconvinced either. “Where’s the message?” 

_ Shit.  _ “It was a hologram.” 

“You  _ did  _ grab it, right? You have the message?”

He wasn’t used to thinking  _ that  _ quickly. The planet getting struck, seeing his father, Sirius… “Everything happened so fast,” he said. 

“But did you see it?”

Harry rolled his eyes. He really shouldn’t have been surprised. “You don’t believe me.” 

“It’s not me you're going to have to convince!” Draco rebutted. 

“I believe him,” Hermione said simply. 

Draco sat up, staring at his shoe. “That’s good to know.”

Ron put his feet up where Harry was sitting. “What kind of trap did your father set up?”

“The reactor.” Harry moved back towards the ladder hatch, fidgeting with the cover. “He put a weakness there. If you were to blow the reactor, the whole system goes down, and the entire thing gets destroyed. We can still beat this thing.” He looked up to find Draco watching him. “You need to send word to the DA.”

“I already did,” Draco said. He could sense the argument coming. 

“They need the plans. They’re on Scarif. They have to get there! They have to know there’s a way to destroy it!” 

Draco hesitated, and Harry nearly blasted him on the spot. “I can’t risk sending all of that information right now. We’re in the heart of Voldemort’s territory.” 

Harry toyed with the latch before he got the hatch open. His foot hit the ladder, and he didn’t bother looking at anyone as he went down. “Then we find my father and he’ll tell them himself.”

* * *

The lower level of the ship was an interesting one.

He had never been on a ship with two levels. He spent most of his life either on the street or smuggling on ships that could barely fly, so this was definitely a step up. The U-Wing had minimal damage on the inside, which was why he was surprised when he cut his cheek on a rusty pipe. 

The upper level showed no sign of anything being faulty. He was able to move around as much as he liked, and he did just to make Draco uncomfortable. If he was that nervous about Harry just having a blaster, it was even better to see his face as he freely went wherever he wanted. 

He was scanning the walls. There was DA written in various places. If they were ever captured by any of Voldemort’s forces, they’d be good as dead.

A hushed voice from above him caught his attention. He knew it was just Draco contacting the DA. He didn’t like how secretive they were being. If Harry was on this mission, he wanted to be debriefed on everything. They could be planning to kill him and he’d be the last to know about it, although that was probably the intention. 

Running his hand along the writing, he wasn’t paying attention as he turned around and walked straight into a pipe that was sticking out. He winced as the sharp edge cut into his skin. He groaned when he felt the warm blood start coming out. 

Harry sighed. He had two options: let it bleed out or go back up and get the first aid kit. He pressed his fingers to the cut and finally decided on a course of action. 

He went up the ladder. Hermione was holding hands with Ron, engaged in a conversation. Draco was sorting through his backpack, and Oliver was sitting on the floor. Dobby sat at the controls, peering out the windshield as the ship traveled through hyperspace. 

The only one who could see him was Hermione, and she was blind. Harry quietly went to the back of the ship where the first aid kit was stored. He grabbed the box and turned slightly. He caught Draco’s eye for a second before he shook himself and went back down the ladder. 

He sat down criss cross on the floor and laid the box out in front of him. He studied the contents before deciding what he was going to need. His cheek wasn’t bleeding much, but he still hesitated when he brought a sanitizing wipe close to his cut. He was about to resign to just a band-aid when Draco came down the ladder. 

Harry lifted the wipe so he could see. “I’m just cleaning up.” 

Draco tried not to crack a smile. “I know you weren’t doing anything wrong.” 

His actions might have suggested otherwise, but Harry didn’t say anything. He was about to wipe the blood when Draco sighed and moved from the ladder to a crouch in front of him. “Here, let me.” 

He put his hand out. Harry was a bit confused at first, but then he put the wipe in his hand. Draco took it gingerly. He put the wipe to his cheek and started cleaning the blood off of his face. 

Harry almost flinched as the sanitization burned at his cut. Draco’s movements were gentle, so unlike the rugged pilot and rebel he’s seen the entire time. He kept his breathing steady as the hands worked at his injury, scared to break the silence that’s settled around them. 

When all the blood was cleaned, Draco grabbed the first aid kit and took out a small band-aid. He carefully took Harry’s chin in his hands and angeled it slightly. He worked his steady fingers and pressed the band aid over the clean cut, smoothing it over his skin. 

Before he knew it, everything was clean. He put a hand to his cheek, but there was no blood. Just a band aid. 

Harry opened his mouth to thank him when Draco stood and went back to the ladder. “Be careful. Dobby once fought another droid down here and wrecked the place.”

He nodded and watched Draco go back to the upper level. 

* * *

“Keep close, everyone!” Draco shouted as he hit the U-Wing’s engine on a rock. “We’re going down fast!” 

Harry sat next to Ron as the pilot tried carefully landing the ship in a dark canyon. Needless to say, they ended up pretty roughed up when they hit the ground. He stood tall to see through the windshield. 

The only thing separating them from the bright lights of the Death Eater’s factory was a ridge, and he wasn’t too sure about how hidden they truly were. Draco was breathing heavy in his pilot’s chair, though he’s not sure why he noticed that. 

Rain dropped down from the sky in fat drops. It hit the ship with hard thuds that sounded like banging. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought it was a Death Eater trying to wig them out. 

When everyone caught their breath, Hermione calmly asked, “Do we need to check the stabilizers now?” 

It was a valid question. Harry was positive that if they tried to get back into the air, they wouldn’t get two inches above land. Draco ignored her to turn to Oliver. “Where’s the lab?” 

Oliver looked at him weird. “Do you mean the research facility?” 

“That one. Where is it?”

He blinked in confusion before pointing to the lights outside. “It’s… right there over the ridge.”

Draco closed his lip, and he seemed…  _ scared  _ to continue. “And the shuttle depot. Is it over there too? You’re positive?” 

Oliver understood the questions, but his face looked like he still wasn’t sure why he’s asking. “Yes, it’s there. We just have to make sure there’s still a ship left to steal.” 

Draco glanced over at Harry, and he was caught off guard. It wasn’t a normal glance. There was something off about the way his eyes were slightly wide in panic, but he couldn’t put his finger on  _ why.  _

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Draco started. “The storm that crashed our ship should be enough to hide us. Oliver, come with me and we’ll go up the ridge to check it out.” 

Harry stood. “I’ll come with you.”

Draco shook his head. “No, you have your father’s message. You’re the… messenger and we can’t risk it.” 

“That’s stupid. You all heard the message,” Harry pointed out. “Everyone here knows it.”

“One blast to the reactor module and the whole station goes down. That’s what you said. We can destroy the entire station,” Dobby repeated. 

For once, Draco did not look amused by his droid’s big mouth. “Get to fixing our coms! I just need to figure out what we’re up against. Me and Oliver are going to go, and we’re going small. We’ll come up with something from there.” He slammed his hand down on the button to lower the gangplank. Oliver led the way, and the gangplank rose as they walked out. 

Hermione hummed loudly. “Does he have the face of a killer?” 

Harry didn’t understand, but Ron did. “No. He has the face of a friend.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked.

“Captain Malfoy,” Hermione said simply. “The Force moves darkly near something that’s about to kill.”

“His weapon  _ was  _ in sniper configuration,” Dobby cut in.

Suddenly, all of the pieces fit together.

The secret calls to the DA that he didn’t let Harry in on, why Draco tried keeping as much space between them as possible, the panic he tried to cover up when Harry made a valid reason to check out the lab with him, even the man who had briefed him right before they left the DA’s base. 

Draco wasn’t on a mission for the Death Star plans. He was on a mission to kill. 

“Lower the gangplank!” He shouted to Dobby. 

Harry hesitated for only a second, and that was to make sure he had his blaster strapped to his hip. He put his hood on and dashed off into the rain, the harsh breeze blowing violently in his face. 

It was nothing compared to the cold, sinking feeling in his stomach. 

He looked around, but he couldn’t find the pilots anywhere. The ridge overlooking the factory was  _ huge.  _ He was never going to find two ants hiding on a big rock. If he was going to do something about this, he was going to have to find his dad directly. 

His eyes caught a giant staircase that went up to the facility. From the angle he was at, he could distinctly see lots of figures on the surface. He listened closely to the voices, but all he heard was a woman shouting and rain drops hitting the ground. 

He continued listening for a second.  _ One, two, three.  _ He heard the same voice that was on the message. A voice so mature, so unlike the father he had fourteen years ago. 

It was his father. He was up there. 

Somewhere else, Draco had a sniper trained to his head.

Harry ran up the staircase, the rain masking his footsteps. He stopped right before the entrance to the facility and crouched down on the top stair, watching the scene unfold. 

When he realized Bellatrix Lestrange was a part of the group, he wished he had brought something besides his little blaster. He balled up his fists. He wanted nothing more than to jump in front of his dad and guard him from Bellatrix, but he had to let everything play out. 

When Draco made his move, so would he. 

“Excellent news, Potter,” Bellatrix said loudly. “The Death Star is complete. You must be proud.”

His dad forced a smile. Even after ten years, he can still remember the face of his father when he was happy, and this was not it. “Proud as I can be.”

“Well then, gather your engineers! I have a special announcement,” Bellatrix ordered. 

He gestured to five men who were standing behind him, then went to stand next to Bellatrix. The men all looked around nervously, and when Harry locked eyes with one of them, he sunk lower into the top step. 

“Gentlemen!” Bellatrix started. “One of you has betrayed Lord Voldemort. One of you has conspired with the rebels and sent a message with a pilot. I would like that traitor to step forward now.”

His dad’s face dropped ever so slightly, and Harry almost got up and ran right then and there. Bellatrix had no idea who really sent Oliver. She couldn’t find out. If Draco was smart, he was aiming his gun for the real villain. 

The engineers whispered among themselves. Bellatrix waited. His dad shifted, but made no move to tell the truth about his conspiracies. 

After a minute of silence, Bellatrix gestured to her Death Eaters. “Very well. So I see it was a group effort. Ready!” The Death Eaters raised their blasters to the men. “Aim, and…  _ Fire!”  _

Just before the first trigger was pushed, his dad ran from his place next to Bellatrix to in front of his engineers. The blasters were trained at him, but no one shot. He wondered about the other blaster. The one that came from the “good guys”. The one that Draco was soon going to fire.

“Stop, Bellatrix! Stop… It was me,” He confessed. “They have nothing to do with it. Please, spare them.”

Bellatrix paused to look at her Death Eaters. “Fire.” 

The blaster fire hit everyone but his dad. The engineers screamed and fell, but it wasn’t enough for Bellatrix. She stalked up to his father and grabbed him by the collar, flinging him to the ground. 

Harry was about to get up and intervene, but he took a moment to actually assess the situation. Bellatrix stood tall over his father, shouting, “How do I know the weapon is complete!?” 

The stance he took, the set determinace in his jaw is what made Harry stay back. This was a fight for him, and he had to wait this one out. He’d never had a problem with doing so before when his motto was just to turn the other way when there was Voldemort’s influence. 

Something itched for him to get involved in the fight. He was struggling to stay down when it’d never been a problem for him before. 

“Let me share with you the details,” his dad said.

“Jedha!” Bellatrix shouted instead of listening. “Sirius Black and his band of extreme rebels. One of the last reminders of the Jedi, and it’s gone.”

“You’ll never win.” 

Bellatrix smiled. “Where have I heard that one before?” 

Harry jumped when he heard the sound of the rebel squadron’s shooting overhead. Several explosions hit the site when he processed what the DA was doing. The X-Wings blasted everywhere they could. They had no idea they had alliance forces onsite. 

Draco must’ve called in the rebels and told them to begin firing. He had no reason to believe Harry was going to be on the platform, but he doesn’t know if that would’ve made a difference. 

He stood from his place on the stairs and ran behind a shipping container. Bellatrix and her troops had taken cover, and they didn’t notice when his dad had stood up. Harry didn’t waste a second in running out towards him and shouting, “Dad!” 

Bellatrix and his father both turned their heads at him. While Bellatrix smiled and pulled a blaster out towards him, his dad looked terrified. 

An explosion rocked the platform in the middle of them, and all three of them got knocked down. Harry crawled towards his dad and watched the sky as TIE fighters began to burst out of their hangers and engage the X-Wing as Alliance bombs began to fall.

Bellatrix scowled at him before standing and hurrying off to her shuttle. Harry stood and ran to kneel next to his dad, grasping his hand tightly. 

The rain was loud, but nothing was louder than his gasp when he saw the wound. 

Bellatrix’s shuttle took off, and he swore he heard laughing. There was a hole next to him where the explosion had hit, and a large shard of metal from the platform was engulfed in his father’s side. 

“Dad!” Harry shouted. “It’s me. It’s Harry.” 

He smiled up at him, one full of sadness. “Harry… You’ve grown so much. It’s.. it’s a shame we’ve only just seen each other after so long. It’ll be much longer before I see you again, I hope.”

Harry shook his head to deny the words, his eyes wet with tears and rain. “Dad, no. You’re okay. I saw your message. You have to tell the DA. You need to live. Keep close, dad.”

“Stand tall, Harry. Destroy the message. Stay with the DA. Fight with them.” A pause. “I have so much to tell you…”

His hand fell from Harry’s, and he let out a choked sob when his dad went limp. 

“Dad! Dad, no!” He sobbed. He could distantly hear Death Eaters emerging from the factory, but he couldn’t bring himself to lift his head from his dad’s face. 

Shots filled his ears. The Death Eaters’ shouting stopped, and a hand started pulling him up from the ground. 

When he resisted, Draco kneeled next to him to try again. “Harry, come on. We have to go.” 

Draco successfully got him to his feet, but he tried getting back on the floor. “I can’t leave him!” 

“Listen to me.” Draco got on the floor next to him, gently pressing his forehead against Harry’s. “He’s gone. There’s nothing you can do now but get back on the ship with us. We have to leave  _ now.”  _

Harry shook his head, his ring glittering in the light. He only agreed to help the DA to get his dad back, and it was their X-Wings and bombs that killed him. “I can’t leave him.”

More Death Eaters ran onto the platform. From a distance, he saw Ron shoot them all down. Draco grabbed him by the shoulders to slam him into the platform, avoiding the fire.

“Come on!” Ron shouted. 

Harry had no more energy to fight. When Draco pulled him to his feet, he glanced at his dad’s body one last time before allowing himself to get dragged away.

They ran to a shuttle that hovered in the air. Ron helped them on, and one quick look around told Harry that this belonged to the Death Eaters. Draco ran to the cabin to take copilot, Oliver flying them out as best he could in the rain. 

“Well done,” Dobby said from behind him. “You’re a rebel now.”

The shuttle took off, and Harry noticed this ship had a lower level as well. He stormed off, cold and wet, walking past Ron and Hermione to the ladder and shutting himself in the lower side of the ship. 

* * *

Draco came down the ladder as Harry held his family ring in his hand.

Harry turned around and jabbed a finger in the man’s face. “You lied to me.”

Draco didn’t react. He was expecting this. “You’re in shock.”

“You were going to kill my father.”

“Look, I-”

“You lied about why we were coming to Eadu and then you lied about why you were going up alone.” 

“I could’ve pulled the trigger,” Draco said calmly. “But I didn’t.”

“My father was living proof about the flaw in the Death Star and you put him at risk by calling the DA,” Harry countered. “The Alliance bombs killed him.”

“When I heard about the squadron coming in, I told them to stand by. Dobby tried to reach the base and tell them to delay when I saw you on that platform, but they were already engaged. I couldn’t stop the bombs, but I didn’t pull that trigger. I disobeyed my orders.”

Harry tried reaching for something in his mind to put the blame on Draco. He tried looking for something that would put the DA at fault for this. He was frustrated, angry, and upset. He was looking for somewhere to put it, but he knew that wasn’t at Draco.

Even if he knew it, that didn’t stop him from getting in Draco’s space and pounding his fists against the other man’s chest. “You still lied to me.” 

His knees buckled as a choked sob came out of his throat. Draco helped him to the floor slowly, hitting the cool metal with a soft thud. Draco held the back of his head as Harry put his arms around him. 

In the room alone, only grief and a silent determination to stand tall was heard as Harry kept close to a rebel. Something he’d never imagine he’d be doing in a million light years.

* * *

He didn’t get up from the floor for a while. 

When they landed on Yavin 4, they’d been settled against the wall with Draco’s arm wrapped around his shoulder, small sniffles coming from him every once in a while. 

“You need to come give the report,” Dobby told him once he found them. “Dumbledore is waiting.”

Draco stood, and Harry immediately missed the embrace. “I’ll go first. I’ll break it down for the senators and let them know about James. We’ll wait for you to tell them about the plans on Scarif.”

Harry stayed slumped against the wall for a while longer. His dad would’ve wanted him to get up and go plead his case to the senators and rebel leaders. That’s what he told him anyways. 

When he finally got up ten minutes later, his legs were steady, much to his surprise. He stood tall, going back up the ladder to the upper level. Dobby was waiting for him. The unnatural droid eyes might’ve scared him if he weren’t ready to march into the Alliance and tell them what he knows. 

For his dad. 

“The war council is in the command center,” Dobby told him. “It’s not going too well. Draco has told them about the Death Star, and now it appears everyone is arguing. Dumbledore is waiting for you.” 

Harry didn’t say anything as Dobby led him off the ship and towards the command center. He saw all the important people standing near a large table, shouting back and forth. Dumbledore was at the head, his eyes lowered as the other admirals and senators bickered among themselves. 

“A Death Star is  _ nonsense!”  _ One shouted, having not seen his arrival. 

Draco stood across from him, catching his eye. He looked away quickly, focusing on Dobby as the droid left the room.

“My father has no reason to lie,” Harry announced, all heads turned to him. “What benefit would it bring him?”

One of the senators scoffed. “James Potter is trying to lure our forces into battle and destroy us once and for all.”

He held his tongue, his ring digging into his finger as another admiral said, “We are not going to risk everything based on the testimony of a criminal, much less the dying words of his father, a scientist for Voldemort.”

“Don’t forget the convenient defector.”

“My father gave his life so we could have a chance to defeat this!” Harry argued.

“Voldemort’s Army has too much power. What chance do we have?” Said another. 

“What about our  _ choice?”  _ Harry demanded. “Are we going to keep close to ourselves, or stand tall against the enemy? Don’t condemn an entire galaxy to this evil submission. We have to do something, and we can!”

Aggression caught everyone’s attention. Draco nodded in acknowledgement before exiting the war meeting. Harry huffed. His father wanted him to stand tall against all odds, and he’d be damned if he didn’t do it now that he had the chance. 

He was done keeping close to only those he cared about. He would stand over those who tried to impose tyranny. He was getting the Death Star plans one way or another.

“Jedha is already in ashes. We can’t let it happen again.”

“What do you propose, Harry?” Dumbledore asked calmly. 

“Send troops to Scarif. My father hid a flaw in the Death Star’s reactor that could destroy the entire station, and we need the plans in order to find it. We have to capture it if we have any hope of winning.”

A senator quirked her eyebrow at him. “You want us to invade one of Voldemort’s installations based on nothing but hope?” 

He thought back to Draco’s words. “Rebellions are built on hope, aren’t they?”

The meeting was silent for a moment before a senator openly laughed. “There is no hope.”

“We must fight!” An elderly woman shouted. “The boy’s right.”

“The DA is finished!” 

Dumbledore cleared his throat. Everyone faced the man, who looked at him with sad eyes. “I am sorry, Harry. Without the full support of the council, the odds are too great.”

The council continued whispering among themselves when Harry visibly deflated. For a rebellion so hell bent on beating Voldemort and his followers, they were quick to run when faced with a chance to bring them down.

Disappointed, Harry walked out of the control room. 

He went through the main hangar where he found Ron and Hermione sitting together, Oliver awkwardly trying not to get too close.

“You don’t look happy,” Ron remarked, to which Hermione shoved his shoulder.

“I’m sure you look fine.”

It meant a lot coming from a blind girl. He stood next to the sitting trio, frustrated. “They all want to surrender.”

“And you?” Oliver asked. 

“He wants to fight,” Hermione grinned. “And so do I. We all do.”

He scanned the people in front of him. “I don’t think four of us is enough.”

Ron’s smile broke his face. “How many do we need?” 

He was confused when Ron pointed behind him. Harry turned around and saw Draco standing there with about thirty other rebels, including Dobby. He didn’t try to fight his smile as the other boy walked forward.

“They were never going to believe you,” Draco said. “But I do. A lot of us… we’ve done terrible things in the name of Dumbledore’s Army. We’re spies, assassins, and everything in between. Without a cause, we’re lost. We can’t just give up now when your father has given us something to fight for, and possibly bring down Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I believe in you, Harry, and we couldn’t face ourselves if we give up now.”

Oliver looked at their stolen ship, a smile on his face. “I think it’ll be a little cramped.”

Harry tried to talk, but Draco understood him without words. “Okay everyone, gear up! Grab whatever isn’t nailed down and hurry back onto the ship. Be prepared to get to Scarif.” 

The rebels scattered, but Harry got closer to Draco. He still had a weak smile on his face as he tried not to hug the man in front of everyone. “Thank you.” 

Dobby put a robotic hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be there for you, Harry. Draco says I have to.”

He looked as displeased as a droid can be, but Harry appreciated the sentiment from the droid and owner. “People don’t usually stick around when things get hard.”

Draco smiled. “Welcome home.”

* * *

Harry stood between Oliver and Draco in their respective pilot’s chair as Oliver got their stolen ship the clearance it needed. 

Luckily, the Death Eaters hadn’t logged the ship as overdue or stolen, so they were cleared for entry on a landing pad. The other rebels had nervously held their breath as they passed through the shield gate, even more so when they had left the DA’s base in the first place.

The shuttle got closer to the surface of Scarif. It was a beautiful planet with a sandy beach, but they wouldn’t have time to stop and smell the water. However, the huge pyramidal tower with a dish at the top took away from some of the planet’s beauty.

Draco pointed to the tower. “What’s that main building for?”

Oliver peered out the windshield. “That’s the Citadel Tower. All engineering and structural archives are kept there. If the Death Star plans are going to be anywhere, it’s in the tower.”

“That’s what my dad’s message said,” Harry informed.

“Landing pad engaged,” Dobby cut in. 

“Landing pad loaded,” Oliver responded. 

Harry let the pilot’s do their thing and went down the ladder. The thirty rebels that had disobeyed orders to come with him all looked tense and worried. It wasn’t rare to be in Voldemort’s territory, but they were in the heart of it. There was no surprise things were a little tense. 

“Sirius Black used to tell me that one fighter with a blaster can win any fight so long as they have a cause,” Harry started. “The Death Eaters have no idea we’re coming. They don’t know to expect us. Once we make it to the ground, we can take our chance, and we’ll keep going until we win. The Death Star plans are down there. We  _ will  _ find a way to get them.”

He turned around when someone else came down the ladder. Draco was grinning at him with a look he’d never seen anyone give him. “Ron and Hermione are going to take the main squad to move east and wide of the ship. You’ll need to find the best position between here and the tower. Once you do, you light that thing up. You make ten men feel like a hundred.”

The rebels looked more confident now that the two leaders of their mission had spoken. Draco grabbed his hand to gently bring him back up the ladder. Ron and Hermione nodded at them as they went down to hide. 

Once they landed, Oliver made sure Dobby was in clear sight. He opened the door when Draco and Harry hid from the incoming officers. 

Oliver, still clad in his Death Eater robes, greeted the inspection team. “The manifest is down there.” He pointed to the ladder. 

When the two officers got on board, Draco and Harry jumped out from their hiding place and hit them over the head. Their limp bodies fell down the hole, and Harry tried not to smile. Serves them right, and he couldn’t imagine beating up Death Eaters with anyone else.

Draco and Harry jumped down the ladder to grab the uniforms. Once they finished putting on their disguises, they walked out of the shuttle to begin saying goodbye to their crew. 

Ron and Hermione, true to their leadership, started leading the main squad east. They both stopped, and Ron put a hand on his shoulder. Hermione felt around for Harry’s hand, and the three of them stood still for a moment. 

“We’ll see you at the end of this,” Hermione promised. 

Ron grabbed onto her hand and pressed a light kiss to her forehead before they led their squad of rebels away. Oliver saluted them as he went to find a different clearing in order to give Ron and Hermione the all clear signal. 

Harry, repulsed by the uniform he was wearing, followed Draco as they headed towards an elevator that would take them to the facility. He didn’t question how Draco knew his way around the place. They watched the rebels disappear into the tropical forest, and it was just them two stepping into the elevator. 

“I have a bad feeling about-”

_ And Dobby.  _ “Quiet,” Draco ordered.

“What?”

The elevator doors closed, and the beach was gone. Draco slumped his head against the wall, his hair obscured by the uniform cap. “You know, my father was a Death Eater…” He mumbled. “I used to come by here as a kid. When I turned fifteen, I left to join the DA. I have no clue where my family’s at now. They used to mistreat Dobby, so I brought him with me. We both have a new life, and somehow, I’m back here.” 

Harry’s hand ghosted over Draco’s. “If you want to look for them when this is all over, I’d come with you.”

Draco’s eyes lit up as the elevator doors opened, much to Harry’s disappointment. They exchanged looks as they walked out into a hallway full of other officers. They kept close to the wall as Dobby walked behind them and said quietly, “If we go the optimal route, there’s only eighty Death Eaters in our path.”

Harry looked over to Draco, worried. He’d been arrested once before, and the only reason he wasn’t killed or taken into custody was because the DA had saved him. 

Draco pulled out his comlink. “Hermione, talk to me.”

She answered almost immediately. “We’re ready and standing by.”

They turned to each other. Harry almost forgot about the mission when he looked at Draco. Like,  _ really  _ looked at him. The old pilot’s jacket was gone, replaced by a Death Eater’s uniform. His blue eyes set in determination, one that Harry admired. His breath caught in his chest when they stared at each other for a couple seconds. A couple seconds that seemed to last a couple hours to him, the Death Star a distant memory in his mind.

“Light it up.”

A battalion of Death Eaters started running past them five minutes later, presumingly to go fight the now unconcealed rebels. Draco lightly held onto Harry’s wrist as Dobby led them down the corridor. Most of the Death Eaters just pushed past them, and the officers followed close behind to see what was exploding outside.

Dobby took them into a room where a solo officer stood at a control panel. Past a glass pane, Harry recognized the next room over as the archives entrance. 

“Can I help you?” The officer asked.

“No,” Dobby said.

The droid stalked forward and slammed the officer’s head into the control panel before anyone could even react. The officer knocked out, and Harry laughed at the droid. He was starting to turn out pretty okay. 

* * *

“Dumbledore! Dumbledore!” 

In the shadows of Yavin 4’s control room, Dumbledore turned to see one of his senators, Minerva, running towards him with a smile on her face. “Yes, Senator McGonagall?” 

“We’ve just received an intercepted transmission from the Death Eaters. There are rebels on Scarif. They have chosen to fight!”

Dumbledore walked over to his PA in an instant. “Attention all flight personnel. Please report to your commanders immediately. Attention all flight personnel, please report to your commanders immediately. We have been redirected to Scarif. Pilots, you’ll be briefed by your squadron leaders on route.” 

Minerva had a look of glee, and it mirrored Dumbledore’s as he looked outside of the room and watched the rebel crews hurrying to their ships. 

* * *

Harry and Draco lifted the unconscious body together, but it proved to be heavy. 

The archives door only opened with a Death Eater’s fingerprints. Draco held the body as Harry grabbed the officer’s hand and lifted it to the scanner. Draco put his hand over his, and the door immediately opened. They let the body fall to the floor with a thump, and they had barely crossed into the room when Dobby made a weird noise. 

“The rebel fleet has arrived,” Dobby said solemnly. “There’s fighting on the beach from our squad, but when the other ships arrived, they locked down the whole base. The shield gate is closed.”

“We’re trapped?” Harry asked. 

Draco gave him a grim look and nodded.

“We’re going to need to transmit the plans to the rebel fleet,” Dobby advised. “We’d have to get a signal out to them so they’d know it’s coming. The shield gate has to come down or else they’ll never get through.”

Draco cursed and lifted his comlink again. “Hermione, can you hear me?”

There was rustling on the other line before Hermione’s clear voice said, “Yes, but the fight’s started. The entire base has gone on lockdown!” 

“I know. Listen, the rebel fleet has arrived and they can’t get in, but I don’t think they’re going to be able to. Tell them they need to blow a hole in the shield gate so we could transmit the plans.”

“Wait, no, I don’t think I can!” Hermione protested. “I’m not hooked into the com tower.”

“It’s the only way these plans are getting back up.”

Hermione whispered something, presumingly to Ron. “I will find a way.”

The connection went dead. Draco settled his comlink comfortably in his hand and ran a little past the door. Harry hesitated when Dobby stood still by the control pad. 

Harry grabbed his blaster from its holster and gave it to the droid. “You wanted one, right?”

Dobby didn’t speak for a moment. “This is very unexpected, Harry Potter.”

Draco came back smiling, but he snapped out of it quickly. “C’mon, Harry. We gotta go.”

Harry ran alongside Draco down the archives corridor until they arrived in a small control room. The room had glass panels surrounding them, the walls filled with data pads. They saw twin handles on a control pad, but neither of them knew what they were supposed to do. 

“The plans are in the schematics bank,” Dobby said over the comm. 

Draco moved the handles, and two claws came down in front of the glass. “I found the extraction handles, but how do I find the plans?” 

“The rebels went through there,” Dobby said. 

Harry was more than confused. Draco furrowed his eyebrows and moved back to his comm, “Dobby, what’s going on in there?”

“Oh well…” Dobby sighed. They heard blaster fire over the comms. Draco nervously grasped onto Harry’s forearm as they listened to the droid not respond with any words, but rather the sound of blaster fire.

Harry couldn’t wait anymore. He moved back towards the handles, Draco on his arm. He moved the claw towards a random data pad and extracted it. He brought it towards the glass and dropped it in a chute in front of them, which delivered the pad straight to their small room. 

He grabbed the pad from the chute and raised it up to the light. “It’s about hyperspace tracking,” he said, reading the label out loud. “Navigational systems.”

“Go two pads down from that one!” Dobby shouted. 

Draco looked worried for his droid, so Harry quickly redirected the claws to the pad Dobby had told them to grab. He extracted the pad from its spot on the wall and dropped it into the chute. Draco wasted no time in grabbing the pad and scanning the label, smiling at him when he read the label. 

“The Death Star! We’ve got it!” Harry celebrated, but it was short lived. 

“Break the window and climb the ladder on your left! Get to the top of the tower! There’s an exit hatch on the top of the ladder!” Dobby shouted frantically, much to Draco’s horror. “You can still send the plans to the fleet! Once they open the shield gate, broadcast from the dish! I’m locking the vault doors now!”

“Dobby…” Draco looked down at his comlink, terrified. “Dobby,  _ no!”  _

“Goodbye..” The droid said when the connection was severed by blaster shots. 

Draco held the comm tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white. Harry wanted to console the man, but he knew these kinds of losses are the ones that get forgotten quickly. In the middle of a battle, no one’s going to stop to examine a droid with blaster holes in his chest.

“Ron, Hermione,” Draco said into the comm. “Have you gotten through to the DA yet? We’ve acquired the plans.”

After a minute of no answer, Ron replied with, “We’d have to get to our shuttle, and I don’t think that’s an option right now!” 

“They  _ have  _ to hit the gate!” Harry reminded. “Once that shield is open, we can send the plans.”

Ron didn’t answer anymore. Draco put his arm across Harry’s chest to scoot them both backwards as he used his blaster to shoot the glass. The window shattered to create their alternative exit. They climbed out on a small ledge, his heart dropping at the height. 

Not to mention the jump they’d have to make to get to the ladder. 

Draco handed the pad to Harry. He jutted out to the very edge before he jumped. His ribs slammed on the metal rungs of the ladder. Winded, he struggled to climb up to give Draco space to jump across. 

His soul left his body when he saw Bellatrix Lestrange blast her way into the room. Draco turned around to see the intruder, perhaps hoping it was Dobby. 

“Draco, let’s go!” Harry yelled. 

Draco’s foot left the ledge when Bellatrix grabbed his uniform collar. He grabbed his blaster to shoot at the Death Eater, but the woman turned his wrist to redirect his own shot at himself. He gasped loudly, and Bellatrix pushed him off the ledge and back into the room. 

_ “Draco!”  _ Harry called out, but he got no answer.

He grasped the plans with a death grip as he started climbing. He hated having to make his way up to the exit hatch alone, but he wasn’t going to get anywhere if he tried to stay and fight with Bellatrix. 

His only hope was that, somehow, Draco had something on underneath his uniform to protect him against the blast. It certainly wasn’t set to stun, and it was always aiming to kill, but by some miracle… 

_ Please survive.  _

Harry reached the top of the ladder. He wrestled the exit hatch open and climbed out. He was astonished by the battle going on around him: the sky was filled with X-Wings and TIE fighters blasting each other, bombs exploding everywhere on the beach. It was nothing like the beautiful beach they’d seen when they landed on Scarif.

He was so mesmerised he didn’t see Bellatrix had followed behind him. 

He ran to the dish computer, where the slot was waiting for him to transmit the plans. Bellatrix shot at him, and he forced the plans into the computer’s slot. She growled at him, but he raised his arms in surrender. He only prayed that Ron and Hermione had gotten through to the rebels, and that somehow, the shield gate was open enough to get the transmitting plans. 

“Transmitting, transmitting,” the computer beeped. 

“Who are you?” Bellatrix demanded. 

He shook his head. “You know damn well who I am. I’m Harry Potter, son of James and Lily Potter. And you’ve lost.”

Bellatrix chuckled. “Your transmission is never going to reach anywhere outside this planet. The only reason you’re alive is because Lord Voldemort wants you personally. Unfortunately, I’ve already taken out Malfoy. Such a shame, the wretched thing wouldn’t die at the hands of Voldemort,  _ just like his family!”  _

Harry almost launched himself at her when he remembered his dad’s own patience when talking with her. Calm, steady, and level headed. “My father built a flaw in the Death Star. There’s a fuse in your weapon and I’ve just told the DA exactly how to light it.”

“The shield is up!” Bellatrix screamed, waving her blaster in his face. “Your signal is never going to reach the rebels. All the ships in here are soon to be destroyed. I’m simply losing time here, but  _ you  _ will lose everything along with your precious rebellion.” 

“Transmission received.” 

Harry smirked at Bellatrix’s horrified face. “I’m not a rebel. I don’t keep close with Dumbledore’s Army. I stand tall against Death Eaters, though. Tell Voldemort that, will you?”

Bellatrix outright screamed, but she fell to the floor in a heap of limbs as Draco reappeared behind her with his blaster pointed at her. 

He limped heavily, and his hand was pressed against his bloody abdomen, but Harry was more than ecstatic to see him.

_ They’d done it. _

They’d survived.

When Harry met Draco in the middle of the tower and kissed him, he didn’t notice the TIE trying to knock them off the tower. He was just happy he was where he was. They’d transmitted the plans. All they needed to do now was get to the beach, meet with Ron, Hermione, Oliver and take their shuttle back up to the surface. 

When Harry pulled away, Draco smiled at him brighter than the fires in the sand. “Once we get out of here, I’m looking forward to doing that more,” Draco whispered. 

Harry pressed their foreheads together in response. He put his arm around Draco’s waist to help him limp to the elevator that would lead them down to the beach. 

They stood in the elevator closely, the dim light from the sun and explosions outside illuminating Draco’s face. “Do you think anybody is listening?”

Harry stopped for a moment to hear the ongoing battle, although it did not seem as though it was still going on. Most of the ships had probably already made the jump to hyperspace. There was nothing left for the small group of rebels who had disobeyed Dumbledore’s orders.

“I do. Someone’s out there with hope.”

They smiled at each other weakly as the elevator continued its journey down to the landing pads. 

When the doors opened, Harry had to help Draco limp out of the elevator. They made it as far as the beach when Draco tapped his shoulder and pointed to a moon on the horizon. 

No, that was no moon. Just as he had mistaken it earlier, Harry recognized the massive object that had just come in from hyperspace. The Death Star ignited with green rays coming from the reactor; the same reactor that his father made. A key to destruction that now lay in the hands of the DA. 

Draco’s knees gave out, and Harry followed him down to the sand. They stared not at the setting sun on a beautiful island, but at the green rays hitting the ocean, a giant wave rising from the impact. The sand and water came towards them, and they watched with tears in their eyes.

He thought of Sirius, who’s life had already been lost to the machine. Of his dad, who died trying to redeem himself. Of Ron and Hermione, wherever they were, holding each other as they watched the end of their world. Of Oliver, who had defected to find a better life for himself and had a hand in delivering the plans to the DA. 

“I’m glad you came,” Harry whispered as he turned to Draco. 

They didn’t look as the radiation came closer. They’d seen what the weapon had done to Jedha, and they knew what was going to happen to them. He took Draco’s hand to hold it gently, a feeling so warm and comforting as they took in the silent serenity of death at the edge of a planet. 

Draco hugged him,  _ so tightly.  _ Harry had forgotten the last time someone held him like this. He squeezed back just as hard. He buried his face into Draco’s neck and whispered something into his skin. Not a love confession, but not a farewell either. 

In each other’s embrace, the one regret Harry had came crawling back to him: time. He wished he had more time to spend with the man clenched tightly against his chest. To spend with his parents who had given him the ring on his finger. More time to say I love you and to love better and to love  _ longer.  _

This was enough. A lonely beach on Scarif was enough. 

“Keep close, will you?” 

Harry stood tall on his knees, his arms wrapped tightly around Draco as their world came apart around them in a flash of golden light. 

**Author's Note:**

> OOOO BOY that took me forever to write 
> 
> I never write anything happy for HP characters but it's Harry Potter and Star Wars like did you expect everyone you love NOT to die?? 
> 
> Also if you liked this I'm writing a pjo au but through the sequel movies so if you liked this maybe check that out :D
> 
> Vibe with me on Tumblr: hispanicpercy


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